A VITAL COMMUNITY RESOURCE

Over 23,000

Geriatrics

The MAHEC Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program is affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. We are fully accredited under the ACGME to provide this one year post-graduate education program for physicians who have completed their residency in family or internal medicine.

The Fellowship combines MAHEC's longitudinal clinical sites, interactive/workshop didactics, and community based clinical sites to provide each fellow with mastery of clinical geriatric medicine, experience in assessing and developing geriatric-appropriate systems of care, and self-development as both a primary care and sub-specialist physician, with specific attention to the many roles and opportunities available to board-certified geriatricians.

The fellows become part of our interdisciplinary geriatric team, integrating nursing, pharmacologic and behavioral medicine specialists with physicians from geriatric, internal and family medicine. Through participation in the on-the-ground activities of the team in our two CCRC settings, as well as our weekly team meetings, the fellows are able to "follow" our elder patient panel in the whole range of clinical settings:

ambulatory care

house calls

residential Assisted Living

post acute care/Long Term Care

acute care hospitalizations

Fellows participate in both out-patient and in-patient geriatric consultations, and have structured opportunities to learn "how to teach" in a wide variety of settings both lay and medical.

Through the fellowship's close collaboration with community leaders in elder-related care, fellows have the opportunity to work with and learn from our adjunct faculty specialists in neurology, geropsychiatry, urogynecology and elder-focused gynecology, "memory care", and palliative care/hospice. Early in the year, the fellows get to know these adjunct faculty specialists through clinical sites and didactic events, and then throughout the year, these specialists continue to partner with the fellows as they care for our elder patient population.

Our graduates have taken career positions as: faculty in academic settings, private practice in full-spectrum Family Medicine with incorporation of a geriatric consultation service, private practice in LTC-focused geriatric medicine, and career positions with the VA Geriatric Division.

Given the relatively small numbers of nationally trained geriatricians, and the tremendous needs of the patient population, geriatricians are often asked (begged or cajoled) to participate in improving elder care within the community; in recognition of this, our fellowship is structured to provide experience and training for "newly minted" geriatricians to feel comfortable and prepared to move into positions of leadership, both formal and informal.

After graduation from the Fellowship, we hope our fellows remain part of the MAHEC family, and mentorship is a focus of our faculty: we continue to welcome graduates to our annual picnic and to gather informally at national meetings; alumnae participate in the Fellowship's teaching, research and program development, both locally and at a distance.

Check us out!
We hope you consider joining us for a stimulating meaningful year of professional training, followed by a more enduring relationship with our "family" of geriatricians.

Dr. Blythe Winchester has been appointed as the IHS Chief Clinical Consultant for Geriatrics and Palliative Care by Dr. Susan Karol, IHS Chief Medical Officer.Dr. Winchester was recognized for her skills in administration, communication, teaching, and medical practice. Her noteworthy accomplishments and proven understanding of the complexities of Geriatric and Palliative Care were key factors in her selection.

Cherokee Indian Hospital and MAHEC congratulate Dr. Winchester on her appointment and achievements. We know she will make Cherokee Indian Hospital and the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s proud!